In vitro cell cultures as a model of the basal forebrain

Protective role of heme oxygenase-1 in oxidative stress-induced neuronal injury

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a stress protein induced in response to a variety of oxidative challenges. After treatment of the hybrid septal cells SN 56 with beta-amyloid peptide (beta-AP1-40) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), we detected high levels of reactive oxygen species, accompanied by a significant elevation in HO-1 expression. Levels of HO-1 increased and then decreased following cell loss. Pretreatment of SN 56 cells with HO-1 antisense oligonucleotides dramatically decreased the immunoreactivity of HO-1 and significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity of beta-AP1-40 and H2O2. In contrast, pretreatment with hemin, an HO-1 inducer, increased the expression of HO-1 and decreased the beta-AP1-40- and H2O2-induced cytotoxicity. These findings support the importance of HO-1 in protecting neurons against oxidative stress-induced injury.

Experimental immune-mediated damage of septal cholinergic neurons

Degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and the diagonal band of Broca is a frequent neuropathological feature of Alzheimer's disease. To determine whether an immune process can injure these basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, we serially immunized guinea pigs with septal cholinergic hybrid cells (SN-56). Following immunization, a relatively selective damage of septal cholinergic neurons, reduction in septal choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and decrease in acetylcholine release in hippocampus were detected. Serum IgG from guinea pigs immunized with SN-56 cells and stereotactically injected into the medial septal region of rats produced a loss of ChAT activity in the medial septum, frontal cortex and hippocampus, together with impairment of learning and long term spatial memory. These data suggest that relatively selective damage to septal cholinergic neurons can be caused by an immune-mediated process in experimental animals.

Formation of synapses between basal forebrain afferents and cerebral cortex neurons: an electron microscopic study in organotypic slice cultures

Co-cultures of rat basal forebrain and cerebral cortex were maintained from 1 to 5 weeks in vitro with serum-free defined medium. The formation of synaptic connections between basal forebrain afferent fibres and cortical neurons was studied by specific labelling with three staining techniques, including (i) neuronal tract tracing with the fluorescent dye 1,1'-dioctodecyl-3,3,3'3'- tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate, (ii) acetylcholinesterase histochemistry, and (iii) choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry. Both basal forebrain and cerebral cortex tissue displayed organotypic characteristics in culture. Cerebral cortex revealed a dense innervation by axonal projections from the basal forebrain. All three labelling techniques produced similar results at the light microscopic level, with densest innervation located in the marginal zone. At the fine structural level, the 1,1'-dioctodecyl-3,3,3'3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate-, acetylcholinesterase- and choline acetyltransferase-stained basal forebrain afferents all revealed a number of synaptic contacts with cortical neurons. The contacts displayed consistent synaptic features, including presynaptic accumulation of small round vesicles, cleft widening, and postsynaptic densities forming symmetric synapses. These morphological characteristics of connections formed in vitro are similar to basal forebrain cholinergic projections to cerebral cortex in normal brain. Based on these results, this tissue culture model appears to be an useful tool for investigations of the development of cholinergic innervation of cerebral cortex.